The Comfort of Science
by Toga Yagari
Summary: When Bruce has nowhere else to go, he finds himself on Tony's doorstep. But he isn't the only one battling his own demons. How strong will Tony remain before breaking down? How calm will Bruce remain before Hulking out? Will the two save each other…?


**Authors Note: Hiya guys :D this is my first Avengers fanfiction. Tony & Bruce are my OTP and *squeals* it's too perfect *dreamy sigh* Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. If you got any ideas, let me know. I want to do more of these two! **

**Eventual pairing. Starts off as Friendship that leads to romance. 3 **

**Warning: mentions of child abuse. If this triggers memories for those who have suffered such a horrific crime, please don't read. **

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><p>Tony Stark was in his basement, working on extension plans to the building which was still in the process of being repaired from the chaos in Manhattan six months ago. Sighing in frustration at the incorrect calculations, Tony made a swiping movement in the air to swipe away the holographic computer contents. Dummy, one of Tony's robots (that seems to be more of a pet) shook its head and made a sighing noise in defeat. "What? You try doing this. It's more complicated than it looks, you know." Tony said to the robot who retreated into a corner and began shuffling things around. Tony poured himself another scotch and sat back to mull over what he thought were the correct calculations. "Sir, I don't think you should be consuming anymore alcohol." Jarvis's voice came through the air. "Shut it, Jarvis." It wasn't unusual for Tony to drink, but he had been drinking a little bit more than usual. He had barely slept over the past week from many different circumstances. One being that Pepper left him. Two, he was suffering a bad case of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from his time in Afghanistan, a little bit of The Avengers chaos in Manhattan, but mostly due to now being alone, he was plagued with his past from his father. Something that not a single soul knew about.<p>

Bruce Banner wondered the crowded streets of New York as he made his way to Stark Tower. It had been a few months since the Avengers had saved the city of Manhattan from Loki's attempt at world domination. Tony made Bruce felt like he was welcomed on the helicarrier and Bruce was grateful for that as everyone else has seemed too hesitant to meet him, and tiptoed around him, making him feel uncomfortable. At the end of the Manhattan chaos, Tony offered Bruce a place to stay but Bruce had politely declined. Moving to India, Bruce had suffered nightmares since that fateful night and could barely sleep and barely eat. Packing his stuff in a duffel bag, Bruce brought a ticket to America and made his way to New York to take Tony up on that offer.

Finally reaching his destination, Bruce stood outside the obscenely fancy building that belonged to Tony Stark. Knocking on the door, only to be greeted by JARVIS. "Uh…Jarvis? C-can you tell Tony that Bruce Banner has come to see him?" As JARVIS left to tell Tony the message, Bruce waited outside and began to stress over his decision to stay with Tony. Was it too rude of Bruce to just assume Tony would take him in? Bruce certainly didn't want to take advantage of the newly found friendship he had with Tony. But truth be told, he literally had no one else he could turn to or trust. He closed his eyes momentarily and breathed in shakily as he waited…

Jarvis observed in amusement at Tony's incorrect calculations. "Sir, If I may offer some advice that you will ignore, this wouldn't happen if you had allowed your body to rest for a solid period of time." "Thanks Jarvis. I'll do just that; ignore." Replied the inventor. "Sir. There is a Mr Banner here to see you. Shall I send him in?" Tony's eyes lit up and he felt himself being pulled out of the depressing hole he was in. Bruce is here! "No, that's alright. I'll let him in. Thank you." "As you wish Sir." Replied the AI. Tony jogged up the stairs and over to the front door where he swung it open and grinned "Brucie!" greeted Tony as he held is arms out wide, greeting the other scientist.

Bruce returned the smile, but it was a sad smile. "Hi Tony." He replied as he walked into the embrace that Tony offered. Both men clapping each other on the back in the manly hug. Tony noted how pale, tired and thin the doctor looked but didn't bring the subject up. "It's good to see you Bruce. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I was wondering if I could take you up on that offer of staying…" he paused before quietly adding "I have nowhere else to go". Tony grinned "Of course you can! What more could be better than two science boys and a lab! Like I said, It'll be like Candy Land to you Doc." Tony chuckled as he lead the Doctor through the foyer. Bruce smiled a little as he was being lead around. "Why don't you go freshen up and I'll make us something to eat?" Tony suggested. Bruce nodded in agreement. "Sound good. Thank you." Tony smiled and showed Bruce his room and where he could freshen up.

Leaving the doctor to it, Tony walked into the kitchen and sighed softly. It was great having Bruce here. His best friend would keep him company. But he was rather concerned about him. He looked awfully tired. He barely smiled. And it looked as though he had barely enough energy in him. "Jarvis? Can you run a medical check on Bruce. See what his vital signs are… Why he looks so pale. You know the protocol." "Yes Sir." Tony got to work, making a light snack for them both as he waited for either Bruce to freshen up or for Jarvis to finish collecting the data.

Bruce sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his head in his hands. What was he doing here? Rubbing his face, he got up and walked over to the bathroom where he splashed some water on his face. He looked at his reflection and saw an unrecognisable face. His eyes were sunken in. He had rings under his eyes. He was pale. And he saw flicks of green waver in his eyes. A constant reminder that he had a beast within him.

Whilst Banner took a moment to himself, Jarvis took the opportunity to report back to Tony. "Sir, I ran the medical checks on Mr Banner if you would like to take a minute." Tony stopped what he was doing and replied; focusing all his attention on the AI "Hit me."

"Mr Banner seems to be suffering from fatigue. I am estimating that he has done the same thing you have-" Tony made a face at the ceiling as Jarvis continued "-not sleeping for a solid period of time. I am unable to tell you the last time he consumed food but his vital signs do tell me his undernourished." "Thank you Jarvis."

Bruce came out from his bedroom and wandered down the hall to the kitchen where he smelled something strange. "Uh…" "Bruce! You arrived just on time! I made Schwarma!" Tony was pleased with himself, even though he did burn it a little. Bruce chuckled and sat down at the bench. "Smells nice Tony. I take it you don't cook very often…?" "Watch it, Big guy. You're struttin' a dangerous territory between me and Schwarma." Tony teased as he took a seat opposite Bruce. "So how are you doing?" "Good." Came the simple reply. "Liar". Tony could see right through Bruce's lie. Bruce kept his gaze on his food. "I know you haven't been eating or sleeping Bruce." Tony said in concern. "Sound familiar?" Bruce asked defensively. "That's beside the point." Tony argued. "Look, you come in to my house, you are under my responsibility. I have to make sure you're okay. And I know you're not. Talk to me Big Guy." Bruce was touched by Tony's words, and shrugged. "…I just didn't have anywhere else to go…" he said quietly. Tony kept his eyes on him, noting how Bruce was avoiding eye contact. "Hey. You're welcome here any time…" Bruce just nodded. "What happened Bruce? Between Manhattan and now?" Something had to have happened to make Bruce change from a confident physicist/Doctor to a reserved and almost scared being. "You want to know what's going on? You really want to know?" Bruce asked, raising his voice a little as his eyes met Tony's. "I'm scared Tony! I hate who I've become. I hate what I become. I hate that I am a beast. I hate knowing that I've innocent people. I can't control the fear!"

Tony wasn't startled by Bruce's sudden outburst but he was weary of the arising anger. He wasn't scared that Bruce would turn into the Hulk, but he just didn't want Bruce to. "What brought all this on?" he asked, trying to calm down the other. He knew Bruce had it rough with his emotions, but all this was dealt with. Unless… "There was an incident in Ozark…Someone knew who I was and I couldn't control it…the other guy trampled everything. The small, quiet town…all gone.." Tony had no idea where Ozark was, but he understood Bruce's pain. "If it weren't for you, for Green Bean, then Ozark would ceased to have existed. Loki would have taken over the world. Don't beat yourself up. You're safe here."

"Thanks" Bruce said as he continued to eat, feeling a little uncomfortable at how he let his guard down.

Tony respected that he didn't want to continue talking about it, but he had hoped that Bruce knew he was here for him.

Bruce felt like a weight had lifted off his chest. It was as though he needed to hear those words from Tony. Words of acceptance. It meant a lot. Bruce kept eating in the comfortable silence between the two scientists. "Where's Pepper?" he asked, realising that he hadn't seen her since arriving here.

"She's currently on a business trip" tony replied, not wanting to burden the man further with his own problems.

The two men sat in a comfortable silence for a while until their meal was finished. Tony looked at the time on his watch just as he heard Bruce yawn. "Why don't you go to bed? It's almost 10:30." Tony suggested. Bruce nodded, he went to pick the dishes up but Tony stopped him. "Just go to bed. I can do these." Bruce smiled softly before staggering away from the table. How transforming to and from Hulk takes it out of him. "whoa Big Guy!" Tony said as he held Bruce's shoulders and kept him steady. "Let me." He walked Bruce down to the guest bedroom, "What have you been doing to yourself?" he asked. Bruce shook his head. "Just the transformation" he murmured. Fatigue beginning to take a toll on him. Tony studied the doctor in concern. So that's why he looks so tired. He probably hasn't had any sleep nor rest since he transformed to Hulk in Ozark. He never even gave it a thought at how tiring it could be to change from a beast and back. Tony lead Bruce to the bed and eased him down onto it. Bruce moaned in comfort of the pillows and thick duvet. It had been so long since the Doctor had a decent night's sleep. Tony smiled a little as he watched Bruce fall asleep. It didn't take the Doctor long to fall asleep. Jarvis dimmed the lights down so Bruce was able to sleep. "Keep an eye on him Jarvis." "I will Sir," softly replied the British voice. Though the AI was nothing but a program, he still possessed a robotic emotional voice, thoughts and feelings. It wasn't as strong as humans, but it was still there. As though it was Tony's comfort for when he had no one.

Tony quietly left the room, closing the door behind him as he left the Doctor to sleep. There was so much to learn about the Doctor and the Hulk and Tony couldn't wait!

Tony headed down to the lab and began to tinker with his electronics. He had been struggling with MARK 45 – the latest suit he was designing to withstand space conditions when reaching the past the earth's atmosphere. He didn't want to be caught in the same position as he had done with the nuke in Manhattan. "Jarvis…Music…" Jarvis placed some soft rock music on but kept it at a low volume so as not to disturb Bruce sleeping. Tony slowly moved his hips to the rhythm of the music before he got to work on MARK 45. He couldn't do much work without the noise waking Bruce, so he decided stick with creating a holographic design and working out the measurements and calculations.

Bruce was sleeping soundly until nightmares haunted his mind. Nightmares of being the hulk unable to control what he was doing and watching his loved ones die at his hands. Bruce let out a strangled yell before sitting upright in bed, shaking and panting.

Tony was lost in his thoughts before Jarvis's concerned voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Sir, Bruce has just awoken from what appeared to be a nightmare." Tony dropped everything and walked out of his Lab, down the hall and to Bruce's room. He gently knocked on the door and opened "Buddy?" Jarvis turned the lights on, but kept them dim to not shock anyone's eyes.

Wild, scared eyes rested upon concerned, warm brown ones. "Nightmare?" Tony asked as he came in and sat down on the edge of the bed. He placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder, feeling how shaken up he was. "Hey. Come on. It's alright. You're safe now. I'd never let any harm come to you. Deep breaths." Tony murmured soothingly.

"S-sorry" Bruce stammered through each breath as he tried to keep his breathing under control.  
>"Don't be sorry. It happens to all of us." Tony replied sympathetically as he gave Bruce's shoulder a squeeze. He could see how tired Bruce still was and it was almost midnight.<p>

Bruce rubbed his face and stared at the wall as though he was ashamed to look at Tony.

"Bruce. Go back to sleep." Tony's demand fell on deaf ears as Bruce just shook his head "No. I'll only have another nightmare." "I'll stay with you" Tony offered. Bruce looked over at Tony and lowered his eyes as he murmured a small "thanks". Tony clapped Bruce's shoulder. "No worries Buddy." He smiled as Bruce resettled himself back in bed and closed his eyes. He felt a bit better that Tony was around.

Tony stayed a couple of hours with Bruce, but seeing as how Bruce was sleeping soundly, Tony went back down to the Lab to complete his calculations only to fall asleep at his desk.


End file.
